Ice climbing is a very challenging, both physically and emotionally, and engaging sport. At the same time, ice climbing is a thrilling adventure, and a great way to spend a winter day in a beautiful surrounding.

New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley is one of America’s climbing epicenters. It is surrounded by towering peaks, granite monoliths, and steep walls, many with world-class routes. With climbs of all difficulty levels and a handful of schools offering instruction, it’s the perfect place to learn the sport.

If you have always looked at these and wondered what it was like to try climbing up a sheet of ice, check out the video below that takes you on a journey into the ice climber’s paradise:

I had a lot of fun trying out ice climbing at Alpental, and I was looking forward to doing more ice climbing this year, but being ExtraHyperActive, I wanted to try a new spot.

Eastern Washington University has an outdoor program called EPIC Adventures that offers outdoor adventures to students, faculty and staff. I wanted to join them this winter on their trip to Banff, Alberta for an ice climbing trip, but just couldn't find time...

Looking for new places to ice climb in Washington state, I came across this book:

Not only does it have more than 200 waterfall ice routes and alpine ice climbs, but, what is more important, it also includes information on how weather patterns affect ice routes and the best times to climb ( last year, because of the unpredictable NW winter weather, our ice climbing trip was postponed three times ).

The book also lists several Washington climbing schools that offer specific courses in ice climbing.

American Alpine Institute is one of those schools. Following their blog, I came across this video that did get me stoked and reminded about the thrills of ice climbing:

It might be too late to try ice climbing this year, but if the video above inspired you ( or at least made you curious about the sport ), check out Washington Ice: A Climbing Guide to find a school next year, or if you are brave enough, just grab a couple of ice climbing tools and head out to one of those places from the book.

I wrote in my previous post, that ice climbing was not hard to learn ( the basics, of course), and was not that intimidating as it looked...Unless...you are hanging by your ice ax off a 10,000-year-old iceberg, above 35-degree (2-degree Celsius) water in the middle of the Labrador Sea !

Will Gadd is a local resident of the Bow Valley, living in Canmore, Alberta. When he’s not climbing icebergs, he’s setting paragliding distance records, pioneering new river descents in his kayak, winning all major ice climbing competitions, and tackling some the most difficult mixed climbing routes on the planet.

Before taking my first ice climbing class, I knew it would be a challenge. But at the same time , I knew I would have an unforgettable experience and tons of fun !

If you still doubt whether ice climbing is for you, watch these videos below.

The first one shows how easy it is to get started in ice climbing. Ice climbing is a very challenging ( both mentally and physically ), and engaging sport. It's the sport that these days can be learned quite safely:

How are you doing with your New Year resolutions ( dreams/goals ) ? In my previous post I wrote about some of the activities I want to try this year. And guess what ? Two weeks into the new year, and I already can cross one thing off my list.

I've always wanted to try ice climbing, and last week I had a great opportunity to go ice climbing at Alpental. The experience was ....unbelievable !

The trip was organized by Pro Guiding Service and led by the company's owner himself Martin Volken.

The weather conditions that day left a lot to be desired : lots of fog , concrete ice, dripping rain. But we went anyway. We took a chairlift to the top of Armstrong, and walked down ( since it was impossible to ski at all ) to Stellar Falls (Kiddie Cliff falls).

The ice formations were just absolutely beautiful. Ice was very thick in many spots and pretty solid. We bouldered around for some time to warm up, then Martin gave a quick introduction to lead climbing, and set up three top rope routes ( from easy to more difficult ). The small size of the group ( 4 people ) allowed plenty of time for everybody to climb.

If you think ice climbing is not for you, think again. There are no requirements to sign up for the course ( other than decent fitness shape). You don't have to own your own ice climbing equipment : ice axes, crampons, climbing harness, helmet, snowshoes - all that can be rented. Even though the course takes place at Alpental, you don't have to buy a ski ticket, you can just snowshoe to the climbing site.

For some people this might be a "once in a life time kind of opportunity" ( something you do just to say "been there, done that), while for others - a life long hobby. Anyway, it's totally worth trying !

Pro Guiding Service also offers ski, rock and alpine guiding trips. All their guides are highly qualified and AMGA ( American Mountain Guides Association ) and UIAGM (Union Internationale des Associations de Guides de Montagnes) certified. Small client -to -guide ratio dictates to a large extent what you can accomplish on a course.